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PubMed1986

Moral community and the responsibility of scientists.

There is a quaint term in English for describing the science of the care and production of domestic animals--animal husbandry. While not particularly useful as a description of the scientific methods by which such production is achieved, the term does capture what I believe is the moral ethos which ought to govern the scientific treatment of animals in the context of scientific experimentation. While great attention has been given to the claims of some philosophers and animal welfare advocates that animals have rights, less attention has been paid either to alternative foundations for conferring moral standing on animals, or, on the nature of the duties and responsibilities that would arise if it were true that animals could be said to have moral rights. I will argue that animals, or most animals, cannot reasonably be said to have moral rights. And even if one decides to stretch this term to include all animals, it cannot be done without conflating what I believe to be important differences in the moral standing of humans and animals. Rather than attempt to motivate humane treatment and reduction in animal use on the basis of animal rights I argue that scientists have an obligation, based upon their duty to care for the helpless and the powerless who can nonetheless be wronged, to act as stewards toward animals. Husbandry carries the connotation of care for a household and I believe this is the ethos that should pervade the animal laboratory or storage facility.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed1985

Moral reasoning in dental hygiene students.

Sixty-five students participated in a study designed to identify the level of moral reasoning of dental hygiene students. Comparisons were made with typical college students and a normative group composed of individuals representing a cross-section of ages and educational levels. The relationships among level of moral reasoning and clinical performance, other selected academic measures, and cognitive style were also assessed. The results indicated that post-certificate dental hygiene students reasoned about moral dilemmas at a higher level than the normative group and at the same level as the college student group. In addition, clinical performance, National Board Dental Hygiene Examination scores, Dental Hygiene Aptitude Test (reading scores), high school rank, and cognitive style correlated positively with level of moral reasoning and specific stages of moral development for postcertificate students.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The utility of Kohlberg's theory of moral development among adult probationers in a restitution field setting.

Probationers ordered to pay restitution were classified by Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development in order to (a) identify background correlates of moral development; (b) explore the relation between moral development and restitution compliance; and (c) differentially identify facilitating circumstances of restitution. The research was conducted in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 1978 to 1980. Sixty-three probationers were interviewed and classified by moral development, I-level, and by ratings on relevant personality dimensions. Six-month follow-up data were collected from probation records. The results revealed significant relationships (p less than .05) between moral development and ethnicity, education, occupation, income, prior fines, weapons possession, knowing the victim, I-level, responsibility, and empathy. In addition, high-maturity offenders were more likely to reimburse their victims than were low-maturity offenders. Finally, multivariate analysis revealed numerous circumstances of restitution that differentially impacted upon offenders' compliance with the terms of restitution.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Moral masochism.

The author questions the existence of unconscious guild and unconscious need for punishment. His thesis is that the self-destructive acts and sufferings of the moral masochist are not caused by an unconscious need for punishment, but rather by a flight from severe castration anxiety into masochistic acts. The analysis of the latent castration anxiety leads to the maturation of the superego. Clinical material from one case is used to support this thesis. Further material from the same case shows how the moral masochism of adolescence and adulthood grew out of the feminine masochism of latency. In addition, the author discusses another case of moral masochism which reviews the intricate relationship between psychic health and moral codes. The importance of the cultural atmosphere is emphasized, particularly what the moral masochist extracts from it.

Anxiety, Castration↗
PubMed1997

Morally relevant differences between animals and human beings justifying the use of animals in biomedical research.

I have attempted to show that the differential qualities of animals and human beings indeed to have bearing on moral rules and the derivation of rights, including rights established on the basis of reason and utilitarianism. Special rights for members of our species are not simply a consequence of human domination and self-interest. I also have tried to show that rights arise from values and that the qualities we value most highly often are the ones that distinguish human beings from other species. I maintain that giving more value to human lives over animal lives achieves reflective balance with the commonsense notions that most of us have developed. Because utilitarianism, contractualism, and the classical philosophical methods of Kant and Aristotle all may allow favoring human interests over animal interests, it seems reasonable to suspect that animal rights activists embrace narrow, extremist views. There are many uniquely human experiences to which we ascribe high value-deep interpersonal relationships, achieving a life's goal, enjoying a complex cultural event such as a play or an opera, or authoring a manuscript. Therefore, it would seem improper that social and ethical considerations regarding animals be centered entirely on the notion of a biological continuum, because there are many kinds of human experience-moral, religious, aesthetic, and otherwise-that appear to be outside the realm of biology. Knowledge about the biology of animals is helpful for making moral decisions about our obligations to them. Why, then, is there a substantial population of animal rights activists in Europe, the United States, and throughout the world, who would not agree with my conclusions? Certain habitual ways of thinking may encourage anthropomorphism and equating animal interests with human interests. Certain metaphysical beliefs, such as a belief in reincarnation, also might favor animal rights. It also is possible that a number of people are being deceived and misled by a smaller, more radical minority. I believe that a commitment to animal rights principles also may arise from a world view of strict naturalism. If ethical inquiry is based strictly on naturalism without criteria for value and goodness, then perhaps extreme views granting animals the same rights as human beings are a logical consequence of those premises; however, it is not clear to me whether one could be internally consistent and still maintain those beliefs. Moral convictions do not arise directly from the ethical frameworks I have discussed. The study of ethics only casts light on our presumptions and suppositions and helps us analyze and appraise our beliefs about justice, rights, and morality. Those of us who work with animals know that animals, particularly companion animals, can be wonderful to relate with, that they possess unique beauty and value, and that they enrich our lives and the world in which we live. In the strict biological sense, human beings are animals too, but in the broader sense, human beings are much more than animals. The life of a man, woman, or child is worth far more than the life of a mouse, rat, dog, or monkey.

Animal Rights↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antifoundationalism and the possibility of a moral philosophy of medicine.

The problem of developing a moral philosophy of medicine is explored in this essay. Among the challenges posed to this development are the general mistrust of moral philosophy and philosophy in general created by post-modernist philosophical and even anti-philosophical thinking. This reaction to philosophical systematization is usually called antifoundationalism. I distinguish different forms of antifoundationalism, showing that not all forms of their opposites, foundationalism, are alike, especially with regards to claims made about the certitude of moral thought. I conclude that we are correct to mistrust absolutist principles in a moral philosophy of medicine, but can find some center within the practice of medicine itself for a moral foundation.

Cultural Diversity↗
PubMed1997

Preschoolers face moral dilemmas: a longitudinal study of acknowledging and resolving internal conflict.

Following on from research that indicated significant moral internalisations by age 3, using a play narrative approach in which children were asked to complete story stems describing a range of moral dilemmas, the purpose of this study was to replicate the results, extend them with longitudinal information and assess the child's developing capacities to acknowledge both sides of moral dilemmas and resolve them in a prosocial way. Fifty-one children were presented with three enacted story stems describing moral dilemmas as they might occur in everyday life. Story completions were obtained from children at ages 3, 4, and 5 and were coded for the level of acknowledgement of the dilemmas and the degree of prosocialness involved in story resolution. Results included the following: firstly, some children acknowledged the dilemmas and resolved them prosocially as early as age 3; secondly, the ability to acknowledge dilemmas and resolve them improved with age; and thirdly, children showed a greater capacity to acknowledge dilemmas with support from an examiner. The implications of these findings for our understanding early moral development are discussed, along with questions pointing to new research.

Child Development↗
PubMed2002

Between "science" and "superstition": moral perceptions of induced abortion among young adults in Vietnam.

Despite the increasing use of reproductive technologies the world over, anthropological studies have paid remarkably limited attention to the ethical dilemmas involved in people's choices of such technologies. Against this background, the author analyzes moral perceptions of induced abortion among unmarried young adults in urban North Vietnam. While the ethical aspects of abortion are shrouded in silence in public life in Vietnam, the young people participating in the study expressed strong moral scepticism towards the practice of abortion, even while undergoing it themselves. Through the analysis of young people's experiences and perceptions, the paper demonstrates how moral ideas are tied to particular social situations and structured by larger socio-political circumstances. It is argued that moral notions which are dominant in a society's public sphere may not be representative of the moral sentiments that are lived in practice and felt in private.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2002

Committed compliance, moral self, and internalization: a mediational model.

Previous research has established that children's committed, eager, willing compliance with maternal control promotes moral internalization, whereas their opposition interferes with internalization; but the causal mechanism responsible for those links is unknown. A mediational model is tested in which committed compliance and opposition are seen as influencing the child's emerging view of self on moral dimensions, and this "moral self," in turn, regulates moral conduct. Committed compliance and opposition were observed in naturalistic mother-child discipline contexts involving "do" and "don't" demands at 14, 22, 33, and 45 months. An interactive interview and observations were used to measure the moral self and internalization at 56 months (N = 74). The mediational model, involving committed compliance and opposition in the "don't" demand context, was supported, but only for boys.

Attitude↗
PubMed2002

The relationship between medicine's internal morality and religion.

In the face of managed care and market economies infringing on the practice of medicine, reducing its autonomy and determining the moral guidelines for medical practice, many physicians are calling out for a return to what is perceived as a traditional medical ethic. Many religiously motivated critics of certain modern developments in medicine have made similar appeals. These calls are best understood as an attempt to define medicine as a practice that is necessarily ethical in nature, a practice the moral basis of which is internal to that practice. This article examines and assesses this definition of medicine in reference to Aristotle's division of human undertakings into three distinct categories: theory, poieisis (i.e., production), and praxis. It is concluded that medicine can be understood as a praxis (as opposed to a theory or production, both of which are morally neutral), because the practice of medicine, and all of its constitutive acts, can only be explained and assessed in reference to health, which is itself a final good and hence of moral value. Such an understanding would immunize medicine against usurpation by the free market. However, by the same token it would also dissociate medicine from all other moralities external to it, including those grounded in faith and religion.

Christianity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Critical care nurses' perceptions of and responses to moral distress.

Nurses frequently experience conflict regarding healthcare decisions, yet are expected to implement actions which they perceive to be morally wrong. Research has described the deleterious effects of this moral incongruency, coined moral distress, on nurses' well being and has identified it as a causative agent in nursing turnover, burnout, and nurses leaving the profession. Thus, it is known that moral distress has significant consequences for nurses, but does moral distress affect nurses' provision of care, and if so, how?

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Morally autonomous practice?

The structures and contexts within which nurses work results in the moral agency and moral autonomy of the nurse being compromised. This claim results from a confusion of (1) the concept of autonomy with those of freedom and independence; and (2) a confusion of the notion of moral autonomy with that of autonomous professional practice. The drawing of appropriate distinctions allows clarification of the relevant concepts. It also underlines the responsibility of practitioners to recognize the moral dimension of their practice, and the moral implications of their actions, as they attempt to meet the health care needs of their patients and develop practice professionally.

Ethics, Nursing↗
PubMed1995

Moral sensitivity in nursing practice.

This study reports results of an inquiry into ethical decision making in nursing, focusing on moral sensitivity. The Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire (MSQ), an instrument constructed to measure moral sensitivity in nursing practice was used. The main dimensions of this questionnaire are; interpersonal orientation, structuring moral meaning, benevolence, modifying autonomy, experiencing moral conflict, and trust in medical knowledge and principles of care. The questionnaires were distributed to a total of 419 nurses and completed by 145 nurses employed in psychiatric settings and 150 nurses employed in medical-surgical nursing areas. The results show significant differences in the two groups and differences concerning age, length of experience and previous education as mental health care workers.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Choosing Biases, Using Power and Practicing Resistance: Moral Development in a World without Certainty.

In contrast to the modernist models which have dominated the psychological study of moral development in recent decades, the model of moral development presented here rests on the premise that situations in the real world are inherently ambiguous, and that their moral significance in particular is profoundly underdetermined by available 'facts'. Under these conditions, our interpretations of moral events are necessarily biased by the interpretive habits in our repertoire. These habits of cognition - which simultaneously perceive the moral world and constitute it - are founded in early socialization, and are then directed and shaped throughout life by reflection and by our experience. The description of the model is buttressed by research results, including a study of narratives collected from working class African-, European-, and Mexican-American men and women. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

[A longitudinal study on moral judgment development in nursing and medical students].

PURPOSE: In this longitudinal study, we examined the moral judgment level and its related factors, such as individual characteristics. The result of this study will provide baseline data to establish policy of ethics education for college students and healthcare professionals. METHOD: We enrolled 37 nursing students and 20 medical students as the subjects in a university in Suwon, Korea. We conducted a questionnaire on the subjects using Korean version of Defining Issues Test(DIT) to analyze the subjects' moral judgment level. Collected data was coded using ASCII document and scored using Fortran program for computer. Then the data was statistically analyzed by SPSS Version 10.0. RESULT: Nursing students' moral development score at each stage were consistently higher at stage 5A across 4-years rather than other stages. On the other hand, medical students' moral development score were consistently higher at stage 4 than other stages. There was no significant difference in the change P(%) score at each academic year in both groups. In the perspective of the subjects' general characteristics, P(%) score showed no significant in both groups. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, further studies will examine the correlation between curriculum and moral judgment development in detail. Moreover, we suggest that the current ethics education should be developed and evaluated in more realistic manner.

English Abstract↗
PubMed1995

[Sex, morals and medicine in Counter Reformation Spain. An unpublished report on pollution by the Jesuit Miguel Pérez (1550-1605)].

The religious movement known as the Counter Reformation did not impede the development, within the heart of Roman Catholic Europe, of a notable diversity of ideologies--even in political settings (e.g., in the Spain of Philip II) that have been repeatedly cited as centers of intellectual ultraconservativism--and as regards the domain of sexual morality, a particularly controversial topic within Catholic theology after the eleventh century. The previously unpublished document we describe is a clear example of this lack of unanimity. It contains the theological and moral opinions of the Jesuit Miguel Pérez (1550-1605) regarding a case which was probably studied by many Castilian theologians during the final third of the sixteenth century: the proliferation of pollutions in persons of both sexes. Against traditional Catholic morality, Miguel Pérez sought to exempt from moral responsibility those persons affected, by medicalizing this problem, and by citing the doctrine of moral probabilism.

Catholicism↗
PubMed1995

[Moral action in nursing].

What ought I to do? is the classic question of moral dilemmas. It is concerned with the field of action in which human beings meet and where moral decisions have to be made in the course of everyday nursing care. Only when nurses discuss their own actual experiences, can they learn to arrive at a competent appropriate rationale and justification for action. With growing self-confidence, the willingness to act increases. Ethics is one of the relevant fields of knowledge. The attempt to create a link between moral action in nursing and ethics, comes to grief when the "myth of life and death" and the "Hypocratic myth" move centre stage. These myths really belong to the medical, not nursing perspective. Several other medical tendencies for generalisation and some in nursing, create barriers to the development of appropriate models for nursing action. It would be bad advice for nursing to present itself as a reservoir of humanitarianism. An appeal to professional conscience is no guarantee that morally defensible decisions will be arrived at. Only continuous examination of their own actions against a framework of sound moral argument can make it more likely that action appropriate to the desired goal can take place.

Conflict, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Affective response to one's own moral violations.

Morality depends on a set of cultural rules that regulate interpersonal behaviour and provide a basis for social cohesion. The interpretation of moral transgressions and their affective consequences depends on whether the action is intentional or accidental, and whether one is the agent of or witness to the action. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether the amygdala is involved in judging one's own moral violation of social norms. In this study, participants (n = 12) were asked to make evaluations regarding the degree of inappropriateness of social behaviours described in stories in which they themselves, or someone else, transgressed social norms either intentionally or accidentally. Consistent with our hypothesis, the amygdala was activated when participants considered stories narrating their own intentional transgression of social norms. This result suggests the amygdala is important for affective responsiveness to moral transgressions.

Adult↗